Two of a Kind
by Thunderboomer
Summary: Boom's more than anybody thinks he is, he just needs help from someone to unlock his potential.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Not mine. I think Power Rangers belongs to Disney. Lisa is mine, though.

Note: Hola! I don't see too many fics about my fave character, so I'm posting one. This takes place after Boom. Telepathic thoughts in italics.

Two of a Kind  
by Thunderboomer

She walked down the halls silently and restlessly and slowly, her mind intent on the presence she had sensed shortly after coming to the academy.

It was familiar to her, familiar like the chorus of a song you hadn't heard in years. Like a food you hadn't eaten since childhood. It was as though the presence was itself a part of her.

She had hidden her psychic gifts behind a screen of nonchalance, but she couldn't ignore this. It was as if she'd met one of her own kin once, and never met him or her before this.

Unfortunately, that meant that she had no idea who - or what - she was looking for, whether the presence was a he, she, or an it. All that she knew was that it was trapped.

She sank to her knees as she was racked with another vision if she could call them that. The other cried out in agony, and Lisa moaned in sympathy. She rose on her feet and stumbled down the hallway. She was closer. She knew it.

As the doors opened before her, she collapsed in what seemed to be a lab. Not that she could see much, since she was staring at the floor, and all she could see was dirty tile.

"Are you ok?" asked another voice from linoleum level. She thought this one was talking aloud, so she moaned in reply.

Strong male hands, callused and steady, picked her up. "Hi, you are?"

"L - Lisa Tegan," she stammered. "Who are you?" The throbbing in her head intensified until she didn't know when the pain subsided at all.

"Um..." the voice stammered "I'm..." And then the hand holding her collapsed.

She fought to raise her head and saw a handsome but ruffled young man splayed out on the floor. She struggled over to him to check his pulse through his collar, finding it still strong and steady.

"Okay, Lisa, breathe," she said. "Medical? Yeah, let's go and visit medical! Or maybe I shouldn't visit Medical, I'm not supposed to..." She paused. "But maybe I'm responsible for this."

The man groaned, and a dark wave crashed over Lisa's mind. Whatever sh was feeling was part of HIM!

She jerked away, never losing hold of his hand. "You poor thing..."

She reached up to touch his forehead tentatively. A glow of light emanated from the point of contact, and Lisa recoiled. "Hello, hello?" she said, not daring to touch him again. "Are you all right? Do you need a doctor?"

The man mumbled something unintelligible and swatted in her direction. It wasn't until the fourth time she realized he wasn't swatting at her but REACHING for her.

Lisa reached out. Was this... was he... he couldn't be like her, could he? Another of her kind?

She cautiously took his hand in hers, and light streamed out from where their fingers didn't quite overlap. It was like completing a circuit,

Lisa's psychic abilities had never felt so focused.

_Hello?_ she asked. _Who are you?_

_My name is Clark Boom,_ he said haltingly, as if unsure they were speaking physically. _Who are YOU?_

_Lisa Tegan_, she 'said'. _You've never done this before... felt this way before?_

_Once, but that was a long time ago, before I got like this._

_Who have you been? What are you now?_ she asked shiveringly. _How came you to be here? Were you adopted?_

_No, my parents both came from empathic families, it skipped a generation in them._ He mentally sighed. _I haven't been myself for years now. I'm so cramped mentally, so clutzy and disorganized. It's like a part of me is dying._

_But you came back._ She surged towards him mentally. _You're back._

_Am I? _He asked. _I can't verbalize any of this._

_Do you know what happened to you?_ she thought. _Why you became... what you are?_

_I wish I knew. The last time I felt like myself was the day I first enlisted in SPD. A few days later and I got drummed out for gross negligence._

Lisa raised her elegant eyebrows. _That's unusual. One of us doesn't become that unglued so fast._

_I know. I felt, heck I STILL feel, like I've got this vice around my mind all the time._

She brushed a hand through his unruly hair. _Then we must fix it._

_How?_ he asked. And as he asked, boots thudded against the linoleum floor.

"Cadet Tegan!" came the booming voice of Commander Cruger. "Explain yourself, please. You are not supposed to be in this wing of the base. And what is the matter with Mr. Boom?"

"Looking for his contact lens?" Lisa answered, her voice barely above high squeak. For all she knew, the Commander was responsible for her new friend's condition.

Boom, for that seemed to be his name, stood to his full height. "She was helping me, Commander," he said with full confidence.

"Indeed?" Cruger asked.

Boom nodded. "I took a spill. Cadet Tegan was helping me back to my feet."

"That doesn't explain her presence here," Cruger allowed.

"I... got lost, Commander," Lisa responded eagerly. "I was about to ask for directions when I saw him about to fall."

Cruger opened his mouth, and Lisa feared he would see the holes in her story. She really wasn't any good at lying. Boom mercifully stepped in again.

"It's my fault, sir. I needed someone with empathic ability for a new experiment and I didn't want to risk Cadet Carson. I apologize."

Lisa tried not to shoot him a look. They weren't supposed to know about her talent, and now... had he? But she calmed herself. "I'm just a little bit empathic, so... um..." She'd have a chance to talk to him later about not revealing themselves.

Cruger's eyes narrowed. "Another special power? I'm surprised, Tegan. All Earthen candidates are supposed to mention their genetic mutations when enlisting. Mr. Boom made a point to list his."

Lisa's eyebrows raised. And they thought he was a... She brought her attention back to the commander at hand, who was definitely a bit suspicious. "I'm empathetic, sir."

Cruger nodded. "Understood. If you had simply made a note when enrolling this would not have become common knowledge, cadet. Please understand for security reasons SPD high command must know where all empaths in our employ are situated in the hierarchy to prevent detection of black operations agents."

Lisa nodded rapidly. "Understood, sir."

Cruger surveyed them for a moment. Boom saluted and Lisa quickly followed suit. Cruger nodded a final time and left the weapons lab.

Lisa elbowed Boom in the stomach and then grabbed his hand. You had to tell him?

Boom smiled like the Mona Lisa. _And let you get a dishonorable discharge when Cruger finds out the truth? That you lied on your entrance exams? They do sweeps, you know. Eventually they'd detect you._

She shifted and shivered. _Was he the one who blocked you?_

Boom laughed out loud. _CRUGER? No way in heck! I don't know who did that to me, and I still kinda felt it when we weren't touching. Can you stay here a while longer? Please?_

Lisa cocked her head. _It's not like we have many others of our kind around. But... she let out a telepathic breath. I don't like people knowing._

Boom took her hand in both of his. "I'm sorry." he replied aloud. "I just couldn't risk letting the first person I'd met besides Bridge who was like me get away."

"Does this Bridge person know about your gifts?"_ Is he one of us?_

Boom shook his head. "Bridge is an aural empath. He can read if people are good or evil from their auras, and he's got some precognative abilities, but not minds."

_So, not of our kind,_ she thought, disappointed. "I can see there's a lot I have to get used to."

"And I have a lot of myself I need to get acclimated to again. With your help." Boom smiled.

"Always," Lisa said, finding herself smiling back. "Always."

* * *

_This is my very first fanfic, so I hope everyone will let me know how I'm doing. I'll update in a few days!_  



	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: They don't belong to me._

**Two of a Kind  
by Thunderboomer  
part 2**

"That awful woman took away my Boomie!" the young woman anounced as she stomped through the ship's corridors.

Gruumm sighed heavily. "What is it, Morgana?"

"She took away my Boomie!" Morgana whined, sounding more like the little girl she'd been a short while before instead of a youngish woman. "Now everything is going to be absoultely ruined."

Gruumm leaned more heavily on his arm, slinking deeper into his throne. "Would you care to explain to your emperor what you're going on about? What pre tell is a Boomie?"

She let out a sigh. "That SPD Cadet that was a threat to our plans. That Boomie!"

Gruumm grunted. "You were the one concerned about the psion, not me. Let Kruger enlist whomever he likes, his adopted world will fall just the same."

At Morgana's glower Gruumm smiled. "Just what happened to him"

"Boomie?" Morgana asked. "I kidnapped him long enough to block him, that's what! Kruger can't recruit what can't think straight long enough to be an asset to him."

Gruumm sighed again. "What happened to him NOW, Mor - Morgana."

"One of the other Espers found him." Morgana paced about. "She took him from me. She found a way into his mind. I still am blocking him a little bit, but I can't block him all the way, not any more."

"Why is this a problem?" Gruumm asked. "I thought you just wanted him as another one of your toys. Do you seriously believe one man can hold back the full might of the Troobian Imperial Armada?"

"He might!" Morgana decreed. "He might be powerful enough to end our plan right here and now, if I don't regain control..."

Gruumm dismissed her. "Broodwing and whatever else you need is at your disposal. Have fun. Don't break anything of mine"

Morgana walked off with a grim, but satisfied smile.

* * *

"I still think Kruger is behind why you don't have control of your powers," Lisa told Boom as they walked down a street on their time off. 

"What makes you think that anyway?" he asked, licking his ice cream cone. "He's wound tight, but he's never done anything evil that I've seen."

"What if he supressed your powers? What if he didn't want you to be a Ranger?" Lisa asked.

Boom laughed between licks, setting off a coughing fit. Lisa slapped him on the back until it passed. "Thank you. Besides, you don't know I'd have made it as a Ranger even if I'd gotten onto one of the squads. SPD has tons of nonpowered operatives." "Yes, but... everybody knows about Katherine Manx's clutzy assistant. What if that's what he wanted you to be?"

Boom stopped eating long enough to laugh again. "I think if Kruger wanted rid of me he'd just kill me himself. He wouldn't keep me in SPD developing weapons systems."

"Maybe it keeps him happy to keep you enslaved in your mind."

Boom shrugged. "You're the psychic. You read his mind. I never could, even when my powers were at their peak."

Lisa shook her head. "I don't read anyone unless I have to."

Boom nodded. "See? Your own paranoia aside, Kruger isn't a bad guy. You can't just assume the worst of everyone because they rub you the wrong way."

"I still am not sure he's on the level," Lisa said, knowing the futility of convincing her fellow empath of that. Kruger had to have a hold on him somehow. She'd just have to figure out how to break it.

Boom shrugged and finished his ice cream. "Your choice. I don't think he's got some lingering control over me. I feel more like myself than I have in years."

Lisa grinned. "That's a good thing," she said.

As Boom tossed the cone wrapper in the garbage, they were suddenly surrounded.

Boom fell into a very loose battle stance, his own SPD training obviously long forgotten. "Lisa, I hope you know how to fight.

"Um." Lisa paused. "No."

Boom gulped. "Crap."

* * *

_Enjoying it so far? Please review! _


	3. Chapter 3

Two of a Kind  
part 3

Lisa upended a trashcan and sent it flying into the first wave of Krybots as Boom tried to tuck and roll under the second, missing his mark wide and nearly slamming headfirst into a street light."They make it look so easily in training," Lisa huffed.

Boom tried to nod. "I think we're seriously outnumbered..."

Lisa looked wide-eyed. "Um. Yes."

The wail of sirens filled their ears, and second later Shadow Ranger leapt into the fray, dispatching the robot footsoldiers with ease. He helped Boom to his feet and stared at Lisa over his shoulder. "Cadet Tegan? Would you care to explain why Emperor Gruumm has such interest in you?"

"Um. I have no idea. Sir?" Lisa wondered if she'd hit her head on one of the light poles. She probably had.

Cruger shook his head, gently placing a hand on the small of her back beneath her mane of long blonde hair and eased her upright in case she fainted. "Let's get you back to the command center, let Dr. Manx examine the both of you."

Lisa wondered if maybe it wasn't her timing that was so bad, but rather Cruger's that was exceptionally good. She also wondered how paranoid you had to be before you went beyond healthy and became drooling.

She staggered up, knowing that she was wobbling. Either she had hit her head, or she was wobbly from the encounter. Boom held her up, and as his energies connected with hers, she began to feel better. She wobbled forward.

"Sir," Boom interjected, "with all due respect I'd like to examine the scene of the attack before anyone else gets here. Gruumm might have left some clue as to what he wanted."

Cruger growled, and Lisa shrank back. How could Boom not see that Cruger wanted him under close supervision?

"Please, sir?" Boom pleased.

Cruger shrank. "Fine. If you feel you can be of use to the investigation, by all means. But I want at least one member of B-Squad overseeing you, Boom." His voice softened. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately. You never wanted to be out on the front lines before. You're not a cadet, Boom. You're not a Ranger. I only want to know you are safe."

"I appreciate that, sir, but I am a member of SPD," Boom said. "And I want to know why we were targeted. Why Lisa was targeted."

"Why you were targeted," Lisa said softly. "Maybe I should help too."

"No." Shadow's voice firmed again. "Cadet Tegan, you are injured. I want you where Kat can take a good look at you."

Lisa didn't have to read Cruger's mind to know he plainly distrusted her, thought she was the cause of all this. Which actually made no sense, she realized, if Cruger was the one behind it. Was THAT why he was so suspicious of her?

"It's all right," Boom said. "I'm sure I can find it out."

"I'll send Cadet Carson to assist," Cruger said, reaching out to support Lisa.

She nodded shortly before all the blood drained from her head and she passed out in Shadow's arms.

* * *

Lisa woke up in the infirmary. "Argch." She remembered, dimly, the world going dark as Kruger had reached for her.

A pair of fingers snapped in front of her eyes. "Hey there. Wakey wakey."

She groaned. "Very funny."

She was surprised to find the mirthful face staring down at her wasn't her beloved Boom, but rather a young man with dark hair and an enormous grin splitting his face. "You want some tapioca? Because I kind of ate yours while you were asleep. But I can get RIC to make some for you."

"Um. Who are you and how long have I been out and what happened?"

His grin faded as he tried to process the barrage of questions. "Boom's holed up in Kat's lab analyzing some samples of something, about six hours, my name's Bridge and he asked me to watch over you."

His fingers ticked across the air like he was working an invisible keyboard. "Did you all that in the right order?"

"Six HOURS?" she asked mildly. "All I did was get a little lightheaded!"

Bridge shrugged. "You were suffering from major exhaustion. Kat said your electrolyte levels are dangerously low. Are you running laps?"

She shook her head. "No." She tried to focus her mind, trying to think if aything had nagged at her.

One of the monitors began beeping. Bridge hopped off the end of her bed. "Oh wow, your pulse just doubled in speed. What are you DOING?"

She groaned, hoping Boom would come back soon. "Agh. My head!"

Bridge handed her a bottle of sports water. "Take it easy. Stop doing, um... That."

"Itai, Itai, itai..." she whimpered. "Hurts, hurts, hurts." She took a deep breath and tried to focus again. Bridge began to blue as tears crowded her eyes.

"Hey, hey," he whispered, taking the water back and patting her hand. "It's gonna be fine."

"Itai..." she breathed. "Hurts." She tried focusing once more, but the pain was too much.

Bridge smiled and took off his glove.

"Hu... it's okay," she rapidly reassured him.

Bridge gestured with his hand. "May I read you?"

She groaned. _Boom?_ she thought at the other telepath. She strained to reach his mind, with more effort that it took than usual.

_What?_

_Bridge... wants to read me._

_You sound like you're in a lot of pain,_ Boom commented before answering _Did he say why?  
_  
_I've never had to strain this much before to talk to anyone,_ she said. _And I think it's because I'm in pain. Why am I in such pain?_

_Let him read you,_ Boom quickly replied. _I'll be down shortly. Don't strain yourself any more._ With that he cut their connection.

Bridge was still looking at her, glove off. She nodded. "Painkillers."

Bridge looked at her oddly. "I think I'd remember if I spiked your water."

"Painkillers," she groaned. "Itai, itai, itai..."

"OH!" he ran over to a cupboard and fished out a bottle. "Yeah, sure, here. All you can eat."

He emptied the bottle's contents on her bedside table and looked up at her expecatly like a child would.

"Thanks," she said, the world starting to spin around her. She took four asprin, knocking them back with the water.

Bridge slowly put the others back in the bottle, and Lisa smiled at his childlike naivete.

As he got up, she felt her head spin some more, and she collapsed against the bed, her vision going dark.

"Lisa? LISA!"

She could faintly hear his voice as she lost consciousness.

* * *

The world slowly drifted back around her as she realized Boom's head was resting next to hers, his body awkwardly contorted in the chair beside her bed. His hand tightly clutched hers, and her touch memory seemed to say he'd done so for hours. The steady beep of an IV drip confirmed the dull thud in her right arm.

She shook him.

He smiled softly. "Hey there, sleepy head. You had me worried."

"What... happened?" Her throat felt as dry as the desert.

"You blacked out again. Bridge scanned you, and it confirmed what I feared. You put so much of your power into restoring me to my normal self you've taxed your body nearly to the point of shutdown."

Lisa groaned. "Something... it still feels like it's hard to touch you, even at this distance..."

Boom's face paled. "Lisa, you realize it's possible whatever you took out of me is trying to infect you."

She groaned again. "That's exactly what I need right now."

His strong hand wrapped around hers even tighter. "I'll look out for you. I owe you that, and so much more..."

She nodded. "I guess I better try to act like a normal before I burn myself out."

"Be careful," he whispered. "Please."

* * *

"GRUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMM!" Mora yelled across the empty bridge, gaily bouncing a dolly along the arms of his throne.

"What?" the villain asked gruffly, coming in to the room. "And get off my throne."

Mora stuck her tongue out, hopping down and prancing around the largely unoccupied room. "I think I found just how to get my Boomie back! That nasty old Cadet Tegan didn't break my spell, she just put it on herself instead of him! I can use her to get control back of him, and then I'll be able to take over the WHOLE WIDE WORLD for you."

Her smile turned feral. "And you know what you've promised me, Gruumm..."

Gruumm grumbled something under his breath. "Very well. Whatever it is, do it."

Mora cheered and resumed playing with the toy along the helm controls. Gruumm didn't bother trying to stop her.

Down on earth, Lisa heard a hum in her head. An all-too cheerful hum. She turned restlessly in the bed.

* * *

_Tell me what you think! To be continued later!_  



	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: part 1.

Two of a Kind  
by Thunderboomer  
part 4

A week later, Lisa was allowed out of the infirmary, on light duties. She wondered how she was managing at all... she should be. She shook her head. The thought escaped her, as so many thoughts had been doing lately.

Boom was safe. That was all that mattered to her. In those moments when Boom was near her, Lisa put what was left of her faculties into him. Exhaustion or no, Boom needed everything he could get.

She tumbled into a nearby Cadet, mumbling a distracted apology to him, her, or it.

"Lisa?" Bridge asked behind her. Lisa wasn't sure if he'd been what she impacted against, so she mumbled another apology.

"Lisa, are you okay?"

"Fine," she mumbled. Her head felt like space dust, but she had to keep up the illusion that she was okay or Kruger would put her back in the infirmary, and that wouldn't keep Boom safe.

"Um, you look terrible. Not to be cruel. Do you want to use my makeup kit?" Bridge coughed. "It's just for touchups and stuff. I have dry skin"  
Lisa boggled at that. "Wha? Where? How?"

"You've got bedhead and uou only used eyeliner on your left eye," Bridge explained. He pulled a small compact out of his back pocket.

Lisa gaped. "Um. I'll be going now. I'll be okay. Thanks, Boom."

"Bridge," he corrected.

"Right. Sky. Thing. Place. Object."

Bridge smiled. Another young man, a little older than Bridge (all she got was a blur of grey and blue) glared at her.

"Um. Be going now. Um. I think I should stop at the bathroom. Thanks, Water."

Lisa stumbled to the girls lavatory and worked on cleaning herself up. She forgot to check in the mirror twice, and was both times forced to start over. Her process was further impeded by her mind periodically wandering.

A blur drifted through her peripheral vision, grey and pink. "Hey," a soft voice asked. "You need some help."

Lisa knocked over the soap with one elbow. "Hand me that?" she asked pathetically.

The girl picked it up, and Lisa thanked her. She had a dancer's poise. Lisa remembered taking ballet as a girl, but her physical memory didn't seem to recall it.

"I should be more graceful than this," she muttered to herself. _Boom? You busy?_

There was no response. It was like she couldn't reach beyond her own mind anymore. Lisa staggered back against the sink, and reached out in desperation. Privacy be damned.

She tried to touch the young woman beside her and registered nothing.

Lisa slumped, barely aware of hitting her head against the sink.

_I'm... I'm a normal!_ she cried.

* * *

"The girl is a MENACE," Sky insisted. "She's barely even aware of others, she's no better..."

"No better than Boom?" Boom finished as he swept into the infirmary. "I would tend to agree with you." 

"There's nothing in Cadet Tegan's history to account for such an eratic shift in behavior," Dr. Manx helpfully observed.

"She didn't seem to be on drugs, just confused," Syd chirped. "She's going to be okay, right? She doesn't have a concussion or anything?"

"No, she seems to have gotten lucky," Dr. Manx replied.

Boom sat down by Lisa's bed. _Lisa? Are you there?_

He could barely read her; he wondered if this was how he'd felt to her in the beginning.

"Guys," Boom asked softly as he held her hand in his, "It would mean a lot to me if you'd let us get some privacy?"

Bridge and Syd nodded, each cajoling Sky until he left with them. He cast a sidelong glance at Dr. Manx. "Kat, if it's all the same, I'd rather you went with them. This has to do with something very private for Lisa."

"Boom, I'm her doctor. I have a right..."

"This doesn't pertain to her health, simply her psychological health. The last time I checked, you aren't a psychiatrist."

"Neither are you," Kat pointed out.

"No, but I am a telepath, no matter how suppressed my ability's been," Boom pointed out. "And right now, she needs me. Her outer body will heal... it's her inner self that's in pain."

Kat sighed. "Boom. Clark. I kept your secret when you enrolled in the academy, but you're asking me to look the other way as you pursue an avenue of treatment that will require a paper trail. What do you want me to tell Doggie?"

"Kruger knows, remember? It was in my paperwork." He laughed weakly. "Nobody else does, but he does and you do." Looking again at Lisa, he added, "Lisa's a telepath, too. Kruger knows it, even though she didn't put it on hers. She saved me from going through the rest of my life mindblind. It's the least I could do for her."

Kat laughed weakly herself. "Doggie has bosses, Clark. I just don't want this to expose you OR Lisa." Her voice lowered. "And if my suspicions are right, she turned out this way trying to fix you. What happens if she puts YOU back this way?"

Boom shrugged. "Well, everybody's used to stupid old Boom."

"I won't let this happen to either of you if I can help it. We need help from something, someone else."

Lisa groaned. "Oh, itai, itai, ow..." She tried to sit up. "Did I throw up in that sink?"

Boom looked over at Kat, pleadingly. "We should be able to solve this ourselves."

Kat sighed. "Lisa, how are you feeling? You've bruised your brain. You came just shy of a concussion, so you should stay off your feet for at least a couple of days."

Lisa opened her eyes, squinting. "I just got out of the infirmary," she said.

"Given your condition, you may be back here often," Kat added dryly.

"Did I throw up in the sink?" Lisa wanted to know.

"Look, Kat," Boom said, pressing his chance. "If we can fix Lisa..."

Kat glared. "You are not going into her head, Clark. That's final! If needs be, I'll banish you from the infirmary and tell Doggie why."

"I WILL NOT LET THIS BE," Boom demanded. He took a slow breath and lowered his voice. "What do you expect me to do, Kat? Psychics aren't in the phone book! I can't outsource a solution, especially not if she IS viral."

"SPD has other psychics," Kat said, still glaring at her assistant. "And specialists on viral attacks on psychics. What you need to do is get some sleep and not try to tend to her yourself. And that is my final word on the matter."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimers somewhere in part 1.

**Two of a King  
by Thunderboomer  
part 5**

"I don't suppose there's been any change," Dr. Manx asked from her perch by the examination table.

The latest of the psychics shook his head in quiet resignation. "Cadet Tegan's mind is repelling all exploratory probes. I do not believe there is a psi active on earth who could break through her defenses. Strangely, her own psi abilities seem almost completely muted beyond that defense screen."

Dr. Manx supressed a sigh. "Thank you anyway." She stared down at the Cadet's sleeping form, wondering if anyone would be able to break through. She'd had to bar Boom out of the infirmary; she knew how frantic he was about his fellow psi, but she couldn't risk him.

"Dr. Manx, if I might inquire," the psi began.

She stared him down. "You may not."

The psychic yawned. "Very well."

The psychic left the infirmary, revealing Boom hovering in the hallway outside still abiding his exile from sickbay. "Kat, please. I have to try!"

Kat glared at him. "No. That's final."

Boom didn't relent. "Please, Kat, I have to try."

Kat wondered if this constituted a good reason to just sedate her troublesome assistant.

"The worst thing that could happen is that I end back the way I was before. I'm willing to take that chance, as surely as if I volunteered for an organ transplant."

"That's not the worst thing that can happen, and you know it!" Kat fumed.

Lisa chose that moment to roll over in bed and hit the floor.

"Lisa!" Boom cried, ducking into the infirmary and scooping her up in his arms. "Kat, I'm asking you as a friend. She'll die if she's not healed soon."

Kat grabbed a sedative from the counter. "She'll be okay, Boom."

"SHE IS DYING INSIDE AND YOU KNOW IT," Boom yelled. Lisa moved fitlessly in his arms and he brushed a strand of her flaxen hair out of her face. "Let me help her," he pleaded. "I can do it, Kat."

Kat hit Boom with the sedative in her hand.

Boom collapsed to the floor, slamming both his and Lisa's heads against the linoleum.

Kat sighed. "Sorry, Boom, but I don't want to lose you," she said softly.

* * *

Lisa swam in an endless sea of darkness. Time had lost all meaning to her a while ago- if she could even be counted on to know when a while ago was.

_Lisa?_ came the mental echo of Boom's psi-voice.

Lisa reached out. _Boom?_ she murmured.

_I'm here. Something happened, I can feel you now. Lisa, can you wake up?  
_  
Lisa struggled. It was like moving through treacle. _A bit.  
_  
_I don't think I can anymore. I think whatever infected us both can't be shared between us. One of us has to be strong for the other. Can you do that for me?_ She heard his psi voice choke up. _I'm sorry I can't be the man you deserve, Lisa, but I see no other way._

_But Boom..._ Lisa's mental voice choked up in response. She began to struggle, to reach towards him, and reach towards consciousness.

_Be strong. Save yourself. No one will miss the man I once was, no one except you. And be strong for Kat too._

Kat? she asked, as the light began to shine in her eyes.

_She's scared of what's happening to us. She won't-_

Boom's voice faded out of her mind as Dr. Manx shined a light in her eyes. "Cadet Tegan?" she asked.

"Urgle," Lisa managed.

"Lisa, please talk to me. Boom is unresponsive," Dr. Manx pressed.

"Boom! I was just talking to him, whatever got him got me got him again."

Dr. Manx sighed. "I warned him about reopening the connection between you. It's jeopardizing both your lives."

Lisa groaned. "Sorry, Dr. Manx," she said.

"it's all right, Lisa. We just need to get you both in isolation far away from each other."

"Isolation?" Lisa asked, suddenly scared of the word. "We can't be separated, Dr. Manx. We're psis!"

"You never wanted to use your powers anyway, cadet," Dr. Manx said curtly. "It's safer for both you and Boom if you don't for the foreseeable future."

"It's not that I didn't want to use my powers, it's just..." She paused, realizing she didn't want to insult a senior officer. Especially one who had her medical records.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._  



End file.
